1983 Pacific hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season
Basin=EPac
Year=1983
Track=1983 Pacific hurricane season map.png First storm formed=May 21, 1983
Last storm dissipated=December 7, 1983
Strongest storm name=Kiko and Raymond
Strongest storm pressure=
Strongest storm winds=125
Average wind speed=1
Total depressions=26
Total storms=21
Total hurricanes=12
Total intense=8
Fatalities=23 to 128
Da

Inflated=1
five seasons=1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985The 1983 Pacific hurricane season officially started May 15, 1983 in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, 1983 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 1983. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.

This season, there were a record-setting 21 named storms this year. Of those storms, twelve became hurricanes. Eight hurricanes reached Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. No named storms formed in the central Pacific; however, there were two tropical depressions. A strong El Niño contributed to this level of activity. That same El Niño influenced a relatively quiet season in the Atlantic.

The most notable storms were Hurricane Tico, Tropical Storm Octave, and Hurricane Winnie. Hurricane Tico left thousands homeless in Mazatlán; Tropical Storm Octave killed several people in one of Arizona's worst disasters; and Hurricane Winnie was a rare December cyclone.

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torms

Hurricane Adolph

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Adolph 1983 track.pngFormed=May 21
Dissipated=May 28
1-min winds=95Adolph brushed the coast and dissipated close to Mazatlán. No damage or deaths were reported. At the time, Adolph was the strongest May storm and the earliest hurricane. Both records have since been broken.

Hurricane Barbara

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Barbara 1983 track.pngFormed=June 9
Dissipated=June 18
1-min winds=115

Tropical Storm Cosme

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Cosme 1983 track.pngFormed=July 2
Dissipated=July 5
1-min winds=35

Tropical Storm Dalilia

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Dalilia 1983 track.pngFormed=July 5
Dissipated=July 12
1-min winds=60

Tropical Storm Erick

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Erick 1983 track.pngFormed=July 12
Dissipated=July 16
1-min winds=55

Tropical Storm Flossie

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Flossie 1983 track.pngFormed=July 17
Dissipated=July 21
1-min winds=50

Hurricane Gil

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Gil 1983 track.pngFormed=July 23
Dissipated=August 5
1-min winds=80Gil threatened the Hawaiian Islands as a tropical storm. It caused heavy rains and pounding surf but little damage and only "minor difficulties". It may have killed one person. A catamaran, ironically named "Hurricane", went missing after leaving Long Beach. Gil may have sunk it. As the vessel had no radio equipment, it is impossible to be sure as no one knew where the vessel was.

Hurricane Henriette

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Henriette 1983 track.pngFormed=July 27
Dissipated=August 6
1-min winds=115

Tropical Depression Nine-E

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=August 3
Dissipated=August 7
1-min winds=30This depression finally dissipated over cool water.

Hurricane Ismael

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Ismael 1983 track.pngFormed=August 8
Dissipated=August 14
1-min winds=85

Tropical Depression Eleven-E

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=August 15
Dissipated=August 16
1-min winds=30This depression dissipated off the southern Baja California coast.

Tropical Depression One-C

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=August 19
Dissipated=August 20
1-min winds=30This short-lived depression moved west before dissipating.

Tropical Storm Juliette

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Juliette 1983 track.pngFormed=August 24
Dissipated=September 1
1-min winds=50

Tropical Depression Two-C

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=August 31
Dissipated=September 1
1-min winds=30This depression drifted across the International Dateline on September 1.

Hurricane Kiko

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Kiko 1983 track.pngFormed=August 31
Dissipated=September 9
1-min winds=125

Hurricane Lorena

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Lorena 1983 track.pngFormed=September 6
Dissipated=September 14
1-min winds=100

Hurricane Manuel

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Manuel 1983 track.pngFormed=September 12
Dissipated=September 20
1-min winds=100The remnants of hurricane Manuel brought rain to California on September 20 and 21.

Tropical Storm Narda

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Narda 1983 track.pngFormed=September 21
Dissipated=October 1
1-min winds=60Narda threatened Hawaii but veered south when far from the islands. There are no known casualties.

Tropical Storm Octave

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac


Track=Octave 1983 track.pngFormed=September 27
Dissipated=October 2
1-min winds=45While a tropical cyclone, Octave never threatened land. However, its remnants moved into Arizona where they were a partial cause of intense flooding over a ten-day period from September 28 to October 7. Damage was extreme. Fourteen people were killed and 975 people were injured. Octave left 10,000 Arizonans homeless. The estimated damage was $370 million tcunits . Of note: The convert|28|mi|km|0|sing=on long Santa Fe Railway 'Prescott Branch' that served the City of Prescott, AZ was washed out in multiple locations between Chino Valley and downtown Prescott due to Octave floodwaters. Railroad service was never reinstituted and the line was formally abandoned in 1984, leaving Prescott as Arizona's largest city ever to lose its rail service.

Hurricane Priscilla

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Priscilla 1983 track.pngFormed=September 30
Dissipated=October 7
1-min winds=100Priscilla's remnants moved northward across California, bringing light rain October 7.

Hurricane Raymond

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Raymond 1983 track.pngFormed=October 8
Dissipated=October 20
1-min winds=125Raymond threatened the Hawaiian Islands enough for a hurricane watch to be issued. Instead, it turned north. It then veered south and passed near Molokai as a depression. Raymond brought beneficial rains. There was one casualty, Richard Sharp, who was lost overboard off the craft "Hazana" that he and his fiance Tami Oldham were delivering to San Diego when they were hit by Raymond. Tami survived 41 days at sea as she navigated her way to Hawaii on the damaged vessel. Her story and that of Richard Sharp is chronicled in the book "Red Sky in Mourning". Only minor damage was reported as a result of the hurricane. However, a fishing vessel did also issue a Mayday for help because of the storm.

Tropical Storm Sonia

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Sonia 1983 track.pngFormed=October 9
Dissipated=October 14
1-min winds=40

Hurricane Tico

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac


Track=Tico 1983 track.pngFormed=October 11
Dissipated=October 19
1-min winds=115Tico was a powerful major hurricane. It came ashore close to Mazatlán. Winds gusted to 125 mph, and rain was heavy. Tico's remnants kept moving northeast. They passed into Texas and Oklahoma, where they caused torrential rains.

Flooding left 25000 people homeless. At least nine people were killed, with 105 missing. Several boats were destroyed. The total cost of damage was 66 million (1983 USD) dollars of damage.

Tropical Depression Twenty-Two-E

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=October 18
Dissipated=October 18
1-min winds=30Lasting only 19 hours, this was the shortest-lived storm of the season.

Tropical Storm Velma

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Track=Velma 1983 track.pngFormed=November 1
Dissipated=November 3
1-min winds=35

Hurricane Winnie

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac


Track=Winnie 1983 track.pngFormed=December 4
Dissipated=December 7
1-min winds=80Hurricane Winnie was an out of season storm that formed December 4, the latest hurricane in this basin. Winnie was a hurricane only briefly as it remained stationary. Winnie dissipated before making landfall.

It is not known why this storm was named Winnie. While that name is given to this storm in the [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracks1949to2004_epa.txt "best track"] file, the official [http://www.wmo.ch/index-en.html name list] for this year has "Wallis" instead of "Winnie".

1983 storm names

The following names were used for named storms that formed in the eastern Pacific in 1983. All the names on the list were used this year. No names were retired, so it was used again in the 1989 season. This is the first time these names had been used since the modern naming system began. No central Pacific names were used; the first name used would have been Keli.

ee also

*List of Pacific hurricanes
*List of Pacific hurricane seasons
*1983 Atlantic hurricane season
*1983 Pacific typhoon season
*1983 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
*Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons: 1982–83, 1983–84

References

* [http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/psr/tropics/hurricanes.htm Arizona's tropical cyclones] accessed November 15, 2005
* [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wmexhurr.htm USA Today West Mexico Hurricanes] accessed November 15, 2005
* [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whhcalif.htm USA Today California's tropical storms] accessed November 15, 2005
* [http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/e_pacific/1983/index.html Unisys Weather archive] accessed November 15, 2005
* [http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/hurrclimate.php#1983 CPHC archive] accessed November 15, 2005

External links

* [http://ams.allenpress.com/archive/1520-0493/112/7/pdf/i1520-0493-112-7-1419.pdf Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1983]
* [http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/summaries/1983.php CPHC Season Summary]
* [http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/e_pacific/1983/index.html Unisys Weather archive for the Eastern Pacific, 1983]
* [http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc/atcr/1983atcr/pdf/cep/02c.pdf ATCR for Tropical Depression One-C]